


night falls

by ethandiesofdysentery



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, LGBT cats, Multi, Warrior Cats AU, dont even worry abt it, i made ethan nestor alderheart's apprentice bc i am god, lakeshore has anxiety, some OCs, some canon cats, some youtubers - Freeform, squirrelstar 2020, starclan said fuck you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25040206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ethandiesofdysentery/pseuds/ethandiesofdysentery
Summary: Lakeshore just wants to be the best medicine cat he can be after the untimely death of his mentor. He doesn't want to go on a quest to save the Clans, and certainly not a quest with another Clan's deputy.But StarClan doesn't give a shit about that.(Or: the most self indulgent crossover fuckery in history.)
Relationships: Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> takes place a little while after the whole bramblefake/"not" "ashfur" debacle. some canon cats are here. i dont claim to own anything in this fic, certainly not the feline versions of real life people.
> 
> squirrelstar 2020.
> 
> (u dont rly need to know warriors to get this but it might help.)

A half moon glimmers in the sky. As a parade of shadowy shapes marches into a stone hollow below, two figures sit atop a nearby cliff, watching. Their fur shines with the light of the stars.

One of them, a mangy grey she-cat with a flat face, looks to the other, frustration boiling in her yellow eyes. "Alderheart," she begins, "I know you're new here, but this isn't how this works. It's not time to share this prophecy yet."

The second cat, a dark red tom, tenses, fur bristling. "You know, Yellowfang, Cinderpelt could be here advising me right now. Or, I don't know, my aunt or my cousin. Of all the ThunderClan medicine cats…" Before Yellowfang can bite back, he continues, "I trust you, Yellowfang, but you're wrong. Holding off the prophecy will not stop the night from falling. It will only give the Clans less time to prepare." He looks down, locking his eyes on one of the shapes in the clearing - a pale brown tom with creamy-white splotches, pacing nervously as those around him share news.

Yellowfang follows his gaze, rolling her eyes. "Alderheart, I love you like the nephew of the apprentice of my clearly superior apprentice. But he's not ready. He's just lost you. Give him time."

Alderheart snorts. "From what I've heard, you were never so kind-hearted in life." Yellowfang replies with a half-hearted hiss, and Alderheart continues, "You're scared. And so am I. But I will not watch the Clans fall to spare my apprentice." Fear glimmers in his eyes. "It's not a choice I'd wanted to make."

Yellowfang stares down into the hollow, in deep thought. The cats below take their places around the pool. She sighs, resigned. "Very well. I won't let the Clans fall, either."

As the medicine cats below dip their noses to the Moonpool, Alderheart leaps off the cliff, plunging straight into the sparkling water and landing in a grassy field. Next to him is the same cream-and-brown cat he'd been observing before. The cat's head whips around when he notices the presence next to him.

"Lakeshore," Alderheart greets him.

Lakeshore purrs joyfully in response, touching noses with his former mentor. "I missed you so much. I'm so glad you made it safely to StarClan."

Alderheart snorts. "Why wouldn't I? Have you been listening to the elders' stories again?"

Lakeshore replies with an amused purr. "I don't listen, but they tell me anyway."

Alderheart turns his head forward, remembering why he's here.

"Look," he tells Lakeshore, who does so.

In front of them is a lake, glimmering in the sunlight. A black bird flies along the edge, its wing dipping into the shallows as it skims the surface.

"Oh, no," Lakeshore says. "This is some prophecy shit, isn't it?"

Alderheart can only continue speaking. "The Clans are nearing a dark time."

" _Another one?_ "

Alderheart does his best to ignore his former apprentice. "Night will fall on ShadowClan, and spill out around the lake. You must find a leader somewhere you would never look." He turns to Lakeshore, meeting the frightened tom's shimmering blue eyes. "The raven knows where to go."

Alderheart wishes he could say more, but he can't. He dissolves into stars, leaving the shellshocked tom behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! if you want me to continue this wild ride, drop a kudos and a comment! it would make my day.
> 
> thanks for reading! <3


	2. the raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SkyClan's new deputy is sure having a tough go of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey in case u missed the ship and tags and fandoms this is a crankiplier fic so if it wasnt clear, lakeshore is ethan, and mark is, well…

Ravenwing is pretty sure being Clan deputy would be a whole lot easier if he could ever get some StarClan-damned sleep.

He's well aware he's very young for a deputy - he barely got his first apprentice before his predecessor died. Some cats in SkyClan (Needleclaw) think other cats (Needleclaw) would be better suited as a deputy. But Hawkstar hadn't even hesitated when he chose Ravenwing. It's nice, sure…but being a deputy is fucking exhausting, especially if you can't get the aforementioned _StarClan-damned sleep_. 

And, well, as for that apprentice…

"Ravenwing! Ravenwing! Can we go hunting? Rainpaw said she found a whole buncha' rabbits the other day and I wanna catch some also Siltpaw said _he_ caught a hawk once but Divepaw said it was a load of a word I shouldn't say-"

" _Birdpaw_ ," Ravenwing cuts her off. "We can go hunting as soon as I organize patrols, okay?" The little fluffy golden she-cat just nods enthusiastically and bounces away. Ravenwing sighs. Of all the apprentices, he had to end up with Birdpaw. He would much rather deal with Siltpaw's pathological lies, or Divepaw's inappropriate language, or Rainpaw's…well, okay, Rainpaw is kind of a perfect apprentice. It's not fair.

"Her name should've been Hyperpaw," a voice purrs from Ravenwing's right. He turns to see Heatherdusk, his…well, she's the closest thing he's ever had to a mate. The two of them had accidentally become Birdpaw's adopted parents when Birdpaw's parents passed away in the same greencough outbreak that claimed Heatherdusk's own kits. Heatherdusk had taken Birdpaw and her littermate, Divepaw, in as her own. As her kind-of mate, Ravenwing had spent many days at her side in the nursery, and inadvertently became the she-kits' father figure. 

Ravenwing sighs. "I love her, but this is exactly why I'll never have kits."

Heatherdusk gives him a Look with a capital "L". "You never know."

Ravenwing doesn't have the energy to tell her that though raising kits with her had been nice, he doen't think he's ready for biological children, and besides, the last stragglers without assignments are still waiting to join patrols. He meets their expectant gazes and tries to think fast.

"Okay," he begins. "Heatherdusk, lead a patrol to hunt near the ShadowClan border. Pick three cats. But I want Needleclaw and Frondfoot to stay behind and go on the sunhigh patrol. Anyone else who's left can rest for now. I'll have you out later." 

This seems to satisfy the gathered cats, as they all nod and head their seperate ways. His deputy duties out of the way, he finally has a moment to relax and-

"Ravenwing can we hunt now? I'm gonna get a rabbit. I love rabbits. You know once I was in the elders' den and Sparrowpelt told me about this one time-"

Ravenwing tries his best not to groan aloud. "Yes, we can hunt now. But I want you to practice the most important part of hunting, okay?"

"Ooh!" Birdpaw's eyes light up. "Is it the hunter's crouch? Is it climbing trees? How to pounce? Look, I can pounce-"

She bunches up her muscles, ready to demonstrate, but Ravenwing brushes his tailtip against her shoulder, stopping her. " _Being quiet._ "

"Oh," Birdpaw says, looking sheepish. "Right."

Ravenwing sighs. He loves Birdpaw, and she can be fun when he's in the mood to hang out with her, but when you stay up all night plagued by weird dreams after being your Clan's deputy for less than a moon…well, it's not exactly the kind of stuff that puts you in the _lovable but extremely obnoxious apprentice_ mood.

"C'mon," he says, tilting his head towards the camp entrance. Birdpaw brightens right back up, and miraculously, she stays quiet for the entire trip.

"So," Ravenwing speaks up once they're near the ThunderClan border, voice hushed for effect, "where's this rabbit warren Rainpaw found?" He knows, of course, but locating good hunting spots like this is an important skill for any apprentice to learn. Thankfully, Birdpaw asks no questions, and just pads forward (quietly!), sniffing for the smell of rabbit. Ravenwing is happy knowing that his overexcited apprentice is at least _capable_ of listening. He hangs back, letting Birdpaw lead, waiting 'til her tail disappears between a few clumps of ferns to follow her into the clearing beyond.

He emerges into a well-lit, sun-dappled clearing, fenced by ferns and tall grasses gently waving in the breeze. He looks around, confused. He doesn't recognize this clearing. And on top of that, there's no sign of Birdpaw.

"Birdpaw?" Ravenwing looks around the clearing, expecting Birdpaw to jump out of a hiding place at any moment. But the clearing remains silent. There's no sign of Birdpaw. But there is an actual bird.

A large raven sits in the middle of the open space. Ravenwing can feel its beady eyes watching him, unsettling him to his core. Worse, this is a familiar sight - the same clearing, the same bird, that has been keeping him awake for the past few nights. But Ravenwing is pretty sure he isn't dreaming right now.

The bird flaps its wings once, and takes flight. Just like every time he has this dream, Ravenwing finds himself pulled after it, flying high in the sky and looking down upon the lake. As the bird soars, Ravenwing follows, as they pass over rolling hills, lush green fields, and trailing, entangled Thunderpaths. The bird begins to descend as they fly over a medium-sized Twolegplace, and suddenly, Ravenwing is blinking open his eyes.

He's lying on the floor of another clearing, except it's the one he should have emerged into when he entered the ferns, the one where the rabbit warren had been. Ravenwing feels weak and shaky. The exhaustion must really be taking a toll on him if he's falling asleep so suddenly.

Birdpaw is standing over him, eyes wide and panicked. "Great StarClan! You're alive!" She looks a little too shocked for someone who only saw a cat pass out.

"Of course I am." Ravenwing's voice comes out as a rasp. He winces. "What happened? Why do you look so scared?"

Birdpaw stares down at him, unnervingly still and silent. This isn't like her at all. Ravenwing is starting to think he should probably be getting a little more worried than he is right now.

"Ravenwing," Birdpaw breathes out, brown eyes wide. "I think you just had a seizure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonus points to whoever can guess who heatherdusk and birdpaw are


	3. advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lakeshore listens to the elders, and discovers literalism.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! sorry for the delay on this chapter! i was camping, and then got slammed with work, and now here we are.
> 
> enjoy!

Lakeshore is still reeling from his vision as he exits the Moonpool's hollow. He's never had a prophecy before - and judging by the calm dispositions of all the other medicine cats, who are busy chatting about herbs and injuries and how the prey is running, he's the only one who saw it. The other medicine cats pad along with him, oblivious to what he's just seen. 

It just doesn't make sense. The prophecy had explicitly mentioned ShadowClan, but it had been passed from a ThunderClan ancestor to a ThunderClan medicine cat. Lakeshore eyes Shadowsight and his apprentice, Flutterpaw, the ShadowClan medicine cats, but they don't seem worried at all. How did he get this prophecy when even ShadowClan's own medicine cats didn't? 

"Alright, this is where we split," Kestrelflight speaks up, and the other cats nod.

"Good luck," Willowshine says. She's been the sole RiverClan medicine cat since Mothwing went happily to the elders' den. "And Kestrelflight, if you still need that burdock root, I'm happy to share. No one wants Crowstar to lose a life over a rat bite."

Kestrelflight dips his head gratefully. "Thank you, Willowshine. May I come to your camp now to get it?"

"Of course," Willowshine says.

Fidgetflake pipes up before the two can leave. "I hate to be a bother, but can you spare some for me? There's a new rat's nest on the edge of our territory, and the apprentices seem to be making a game of messing with it. Something's bound to go wrong, and burdock doesn't grow in SkyClan."

"We have plenty," Willowshine assures him. "Would you like to come with us?"

Fidgetflake nods. "Thank you for your kindness. If RiverClan ever needs my help, just ask." 

Willowshine nods back. "Let's go."

 _Finally_ , Lakeshore thinks. The small talk has been killing him - how can everything be so normal when he's just received a devastating prophecy? But luck seems to have favored him - with the burdock root group gone, it's just him and ShadowClan.

"Shall we?" Shadowsight asks, flicking his tail in the direction of both their Clans. 

Lakeshore nods, and they set off.

They walk in silence that might be comfortable for the other cats, but certainly isn't for Lakeshore. Finally, he convinces himself to speak.

"So," he begins, "How are things in ShadowClan?"

"Good," Shadowsight replies. "Moonmoth just had kits."

"That's wonderful!" Lakeshore replies genuinely. Kits are always blessing to the Clans.

"She let me name one!" Flutterpaw pipes up excitedly. "I called her Fogkit 'cuz her fur looks like fog! Moonmoth said I'm good at names."

Shadowsight snorts. "Flutterpaw is convinced Fogkit will be her apprentice one day, even though she's barely an apprentice herself."

Lakeshore can't help but feel warm inside. Apprentices are so cute. He'd love to find one of his own. Bristlefrost has just had another litter, but Daisykit and Nightkit don't seem particularly inclined to become medicine cats. He's still young, though. He has time.

More importantly, everything seems to be perfectly fine in ShadowClan. And judging by their attitudes, Shadowsight and Flutterpaw didn't receive any haunting prophecies.

"I'm off," he suddenly announces, tipping his head in the direction of the ThunderClan camp.

"Okay," Shadowsight says. "We'll see you at the Gathering?"

"Of course," Lakeshore responds. He watches as the two ShadowClan cats wander away before he turns and bolts for his own camp.

///

"I don't see why they can't just tell you, if it's that important."

Lakeshore sighs as he continues to smooth the marigold poultice on Cloudtail's thorn scratch, which the elder claims was from a fierce battle, but everyone knows he's much too old to leave the camp, much less battle. Cloudtail is the oldest cat in the Clan - so old now that his own daughter has joined him in the elders' den. Even a thorn scratch could kill him if it got infected, and they both know that.

"You'd think so," Lakeshore mutters in response to Cloudtail's statement. "But StarClan and their whimsical ways and all that."

Cloudtail snorts. "StarClan can eat fox shit for all I care. They never really help us. They came down for a nice rowdy fight, and flew right back up to the heavens to tell us some mysterious crap about birds and stuff-" He looks up to Lakeshore, who is now wrapping dock leaves around the wound to bandage it. "What was it they showed you again?"

Lakeshore can't help but feel warm inside - Cloudtail never really believed in StarClan, even after the "nice rowdy fight" that was the Great Battle. And that makes him the only cat Lakeshore can share his doubts about their ancestors with. "Alderheart and I were sitting on the shore of the lake, and I watched a black bird - I think it was a raven - fly along the water. And then he said-"

He stops when he realizes Cloudtail is purring loudly, obviously amused. "What?" he says, irritated. "What's so funny?"

"That dream wasn't mysterious!" Cloudtail tells him, looking smug. "It was completely literal!"

"Huh?" Lakeshore's ear twitches. 

"You were on the shore of a lake?" Cloudtail prompts. When Lakeshore just stares at him, still confused, he continues, "Lakeshore! Your name is Lakeshore! It directly says your name!" He snorts, shaking his head. "Young cats these days…"

Oh. Well, now Lakeshore feels stupid. Of _course_. He must be part of the prophecy.

"And the raven?" he asks. "What does the raven mean?"

"Well, it's probably another cat," Cloudtail replies. He still seems very pleased with himself for cracking this code. "A raven, you said? Could it be Ravenpelt? Or a cat in another Clan? ShadowClan has a Ravenhop. There's a Raven-something in WindClan, maybe? I used to know a Ravenpaw. He could still be alive. Probably not. But maybe."

Cloudtail continues to ramble about Raven-named cats, but Lakeshore can't concentrate on it. His full name was written within the image - not just "lake", but "shore" as well. Logically, the other part of Raven's name must also be represented. Was there some bit of the raven that was particularly emphasized?

_The raven's wing skims the water…_

The raven's _wing_.

Lakeshore's stomach flips. He suddenly knows exactly who the second cat in the prophecy is. Oh, StarClan, no.

Cloudtail has fallen silent, realizing Lakeshore was zoning out. "Lakeshore? Are you okay?"

Lakeshore meets Cloudtail's eyes, feeling his own peeled open wide. In response, he offers up the one word he can think of to describe the situation.

" _Fuck_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOT TIP! i just started a youtube channel! check out clouttail on youtube for the so far one (1) warriors animation ive put up. and if you want to support me/just throw money at me, im also selling warriors shit on redbubble! im clouttail there too!
> 
> thx for reading! love yall!
> 
> (ps Any Hot Singles In My Area? boys i got it bad. tonight a guy in the drive through asked if he could have ketchup and i nearly replied "sure can i have ur number?" but like god he was cute. u ever just craving lov…this is almost a joke but like)


End file.
